Caracterização química de extratos das folhas de Cecropia Pachystachya

Abstract

The Cecropia genus consists of about 60 species distributed for all South America, most of them with occurence in Brazil, Peru and Argentina. The Cecropia pachystachya (ambay) specie is usually found in southern and southeastern Brazil. The ambay is broadly used in folk medicine for treatment of asthma, bronquites, cough, high blood pressure, and as an antiinflammatory. The principal compounds identified in this specie are phenolic compounds (as flavonoids and tannins) and terpenes. In this work were chemically investigated two different types of leaves extract (of ambay). In the aqueous extract were obtained two fractions after successive chromatographic fractionation with gel of dextran (Sephadex LH-20). Analysis by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR 1H and 13C) and Mass Spectrometry (MS) allow to identify them as glycosylated flavonoids namely the apigenin 6-C-galactosyl-6’’-O-β- galactopyranoside and 3’-Methoxyapigenin 6-C-galactosyl-6’’-O-β-galactopyranoside, both described for the first time in this specie. The ethanolic extract showed greater in vivo antiinflammatory activity than the aqueous extract, because of this the characterization of the ethanolic extract was done by Liquid Chromatography coupled to Mass Spectrometry (UPLCQTOF-MS) lead to identification of 8 compounds: rutin, orientin, isoorientin, vitexin, isovitexin, apigenin 6-C-galactosyl-6’’-O-β-galactopyranoside, gallic acid, arjunolic acid. Despite of them are depicted in literature, rutin, gallic acid and arjunolic acid are described for the first time in ambay. The anti-inflammatory activity was attributed to the presence of flavonoids orientin and isoorientin.